London  - Jaguar has given the XF luxury saloon a more powerful diesel engine which is said to save fuel at the same time.

The 3 litre, six-cylinder turbo diesel unit in the XF Diesel S replaces the current 2.7-litre unit, boosting performance by 33 per cent. Despite the power gain, the bigger engine
(275 horsepower) is said to be 12 per cent more fuel-efficient and it cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 10 per cent to 179g/km. The car will feature at the Detroit car show from January 17-25, 2009.

Detroit  - The latest incarnation of Maserati's Quattroporte luxury four-seater, the Sport GTS, will make its international debut at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit from January 17-25, 2009.

Berlin  - Asian carmakers lead a fall in German vehicle sales last year, data released Tuesday showed, with the giant Japanese auto group Toyota Motor Corporation reporting a 27-per-cent sales plunge in Europe's biggest auto market during 2008.

Along with Toyota, Japanese rivals Mitsubishi, Mazda and Honda also reported steep falls, Germany's vehicle registration office (KBA) said Tuesday, as the growing sense of economic uncertainty hit Germany's key car sector.

Korean carmaker's new German car registrations slumped by 15 per cent last year.

Tokyo - Toyota Motor Corp decided to further reduce output by halting operations for 11 days at 12 domestic plants in February and March, the company said Tuesday.

Due to rapid decline of overseas demand, the leading automaker suspended operations for three days this month at almost all its domestic factories.

Toyota also plans to stop some production lines during the night shift at 13 parts-factories including subsidiaries in and outside Japan this month.

New York - US carmakers ended 2008 with further year-on-year declines in December and the lowest yearly sales figures in 15 years.

About 13 million vehicles were sold in 2008 in the United States, down from more than 16 million in 2007, with the steepest drops in sales coming in the last months of the year.

Analysts anticipate sales could be even worse in 2009, as sales figures for December fell by more than the year as a whole.

General Motors Corp, the largest US carmaker, saw sales fall by nearly 23 per cent for the year to just under 3 million vehicles. The firm said sales fell more than 31 per cent in December from the same period last year despite hefty incentives for car buyers.

Munich - Sales by car manufacturer BMW in the company's important market in the United States dropped 9.7 per cent in 2008 from the prior year, the Munich-based company reported Monday.